After a week of challenging travel due to ice, snow and wind, I wearily entered the concourse for my flight home. Well, fitting of the week, my flight into Roanoke, VA, had been cancelled because of heavy fog. So, as one may do in business, I began to think through my options. First, I could fly into a neighboring airport, rent a car, and make the three-hour drive home. Second, I could find a room, or even a comfortable chair, to spend the night and wait for the following day’s flight. I actually chose my third option of renting a car onsite and making the drive all the way home. As fate would have it, I was in luck. Several other passengers, also headed for the Virginia destination, joined me in the rental car line, and what looked to be a very long evening turned into an educational opportunity.

Eventually, a group of us decided to make the drive together. The driver was a China native, now a United States citizen, who sold American forest products to Asia. Also joining our group was a German student at McGill University in Canada, and a French citizen visiting family in Virginia. As one can imagine, this diverse group made for some interesting discussion. About an hour into our travels, I mentioned agriculture and the Homestead creamery where I am an owner partner. To my surprise and delight, each of these individuals was a customer! Even the visiting Frenchman had his family ship creamery ice cream to him overseas for special family events.

After thoroughly discussing ice cream, the conversation turned to agriculture and the world economy. Our driver told us that his three daughters introduced him to Homestead creamery. They were looking for milk in glass containers because of the environmental benefit as well as the taste. He further indicated that the larger segment of the Asian population, which is mostly led by millennials, was willing to pay more for products with specialized characteristics such as sustainable growing practices or food safety standards. This was particularly interesting because, as he also stated, the strength of the U.S. dollar is a major headwind to U.S. exports, including the forest products he markets. Continuing on, he indicated that the West Coast port disruption last year created a general mistrust among Asian consumers for U.S. products.

At this point, both the French and German passengers observed that the local food movement, with a slant toward environmental sustainability, was growing rapidly in Europe. In fact, they both agreed that European food was preferable because of its taste and local farm sources.

Each passenger emphatically agreed on the importance of agriculture. They expressed concern regarding the growing disconnect between agriculture and urban populations, and even marked this as a global issue. It was extremely interesting to hear them discuss their views of agriculture, which were undoubtedly influenced by big media, certain movies and some extremists across the globe.

At 4 a.m., the Asian gentleman dropped me at my car. On my drive home from the airport, I reflected back over the evening’s events and the benefit of the outside perspective I had just been given. It reminded me of the old saying, “When you are given lemons, find a way to make lemonade.” Perhaps we can all benefit from our own version of a cancelled flight to gain a broader perspective of those familiar things we think we know and understand so well. If nothing else, it certainly can be interesting.